Spatiotemporal control and modeling of morphogen delivery to induce gradient patterning of stem cell differentiation using fluidic channels

Modeling development using hydrogels

The development of multicellular complex organisms relies on coordinated signaling from the microenvironment, including both biochemical and mechanical interactions. To better understand developmental biology, increasingly sophisticated in vitro systems are needed to mimic these complex extracellular features. In this Primer, we explore how engineered hydrogels can serve as in vitro culture platforms to present such signals in a controlled manner and include examples of how they have been used to advance our understanding of developmental biology.

Engineering Smart Composite Hydrogels for Wearable Disease Monitoring

Growing health awareness triggers the public's concern about health problems. People want a timely and comprehensive picture of their condition without frequent trips to the hospital for costly and cumbersome general check-ups. The wearable technique provides a continuous measurement method for health monitoring by tracking a person's physiological data and analyzing it locally or remotely. During the health monitoring process, different kinds of sensors convert physiological signals into electrical or optical signals that can be recorded and transmitted, consequently playing a crucial role in wearable techniques. Wearable application scenarios usually require sensors to possess excellent flexibility and stretchability. Thus, designing flexible and stretchable sensors with reliable performance is the key to wearable technology. Smart composite hydrogels, which have tunable electrical properties, mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and multi-stimulus sensitivity, are one of the best sensitive materials for wearable health monitoring. This review summarizes the common synthetic and performance optimization strategies of smart composite hydrogels and focuses on the current application of smart composite hydrogels in the field of wearable health monitoring.

A Progress Report and Roadmap for Microphysiological Systems and Organ-On-A-Chip Technologies to Be More Predictive Models in Human (Knee) Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA), a chronic debilitating joint disease affecting hundreds of million people globally, is associated with significant pain and socioeconomic costs. Current treatment modalities are palliative and unable to stop the progressive degeneration of articular cartilage in OA. Scientific attention has shifted from the historical view of OA as a wear-and-tear cartilage disorder to its recognition as a whole-joint disease, highlighting the contribution of other knee joint tissues in OA pathogenesis. Despite much progress in the field of microfluidic systems/organs-on-a-chip in other research fields, current in vitro models in use do not yet accurately reflect the complexity of the OA pathophenotype. In this review, we provide: 1) a detailed overview of the most significant recent developments in the field of microsystems approaches for OA modeling, and 2) an OA-pathophysiology-based bioengineering roadmap for the requirements of the next generation of more predictive and authentic microscale systems fit for the purpose of not only disease modeling but also of drug screening to potentially allow OA animal model reduction and replacement in the near future.

Synthetic developmental biology: Engineering approaches to guide multicellular organization

Multicellular organisms of various complexities self-organize in nature. Organoids are in vitro 3D structures that display important aspects of the anatomy and physiology of their in vivo counterparts and that develop from pluripotent or tissue-specific stem cells through a self-organization process. In this review, we describe the multidisciplinary concept of “synthetic developmental biology” where engineering approaches are employed to guide multicellular organization in an experimental setting. We introduce a novel classification of engineering approaches based on the extent of microenvironmental manipulation applied to organoids. In the final section, we discuss how engineering tools might help overcome current limitations in organoid construction.

Insights into the present and future of cartilage regeneration and joint repair

Knee osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease. It causes pain and suffering for affected patients and is the source of major economic costs for healthcare systems. Despite ongoing research, there is a lack of knowledge regarding disease mechanisms, biomarkers, and possible cures. Current treatments do not fulfill patients' long-term needs, and it often requires invasive surgical procedures with subsequent long periods of rehabilitation. Researchers and companies worldwide are working to find a suitable cell source to engineer or regenerate a functional and healthy articular cartilage tissue to implant in the damaged area. Potential cell sources to accomplish this goal include embryonic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, or induced pluripotent stem cells. The differentiation of stem cells into different tissue types is complex, and a suitable concentration range of specific growth factors is vital. The cellular microenvironment during early embryonic development provides crucial information regarding concentrations of signaling molecules and morphogen gradients as these are essential inducers for tissue development. Thus, morphogen gradients implemented in developmental protocols aimed to engineer functional cartilage tissue can potentially generate cells comparable to those within native cartilage. In this review, we have summarized the problems with current treatments, potential cell sources for cell therapy, reviewed the progress of new treatments within the regenerative cartilage field, and highlighted the importance of cell quality, characterization assays, and chemically defined protocols.

Advances in neural organoid systems and their application in neurotoxicity testing of environmental chemicals

Due to the complex structure and function of central nervous system (CNS), human CNS in vitro modeling is still a great challenge. Neurotoxicity testing of environmental chemicals mainly depends on the traditional animal models, which have various limitations such as species differences, expensive and time-consuming. Meanwhile, in vitro two-dimensional (2D) cultured cells or three-dimensional (3D) cultured neurospheres cannot fully simulate complex 3D structure of neural tissues. Recent advancements in neural organoid systems provides excellent models for the testing of environmental chemicals that affect the development of human CNS. Neural organoids derived from hPSCs not only can simulate the process of CNS development, including early stage neural tube formation, neuroepithelium differentiation and regional specification, but also its 3D structure, thus can be used to evaluate the effect of chemicals on differentiation and morphogenesis. Here, we provide a review of recent progress in the methods of culturing neural organoids and their applications in neurotoxicity testing of environmental chemicals. We conclude by highlighting challenge and future directions in neurotoxicity testing based on neural organoids.

Pierre S, Hong K, Pavon N, Pak C, Sun Y. Patterning Neuroepithelial Cell Sheet via a Sustained Chemical Gradient Generated by Localized Passive Diffusion Devices

Recent advances in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs)-derived in vitro models open a new avenue for studying early stage human development. While current approaches leverage the self-organizing capability of hPSCs, it remains unclear whether extrinsic morphogen gradients are sufficient to pattern neuroectoderm tissues in vitro. While microfluidics or hydrogel-based approaches to generate chemical gradients are well-established, these systems either require continuous pumping or encapsulating cells in gels, making it difficult for adaptation in standard biology laboratories and downstream analysis. In this work, we report a new device design that leverages localized passive diffusion, or LPaD for short, to generate a stable chemical gradient in an open environment. As LPaD is operated simply by media changing, common issues for microfluidic systems such as leakage, bubble formation, and contamination can be avoided. The device contains a slit carved in a film filled with solid gelatin and connected to a static aqueous morphogen reservoir. Concentration gradients generated by the device were visualized via DAPI fluorescent intensity and were found to be stable for up to 168 h. Using this device, we successfully induced cellular response of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells to the concentration gradient of a small-molecule drug, cytochalasin D. Furthermore, we efficiently patterned the dorsal-ventral axis of hPSC-derived forebrain neuroepithelial cells with the sonic hedgehog (Shh) signal gradient generated by the LPaD devices. Together, LPaD devices are powerful tools to control the local chemical microenvironment for engineering organotypic structures in vitro.

Tissue Chips and Microphysiological Systems for Disease Modeling and Drug Testing

Tissue chips (TCs) and microphysiological systems (MPSs) that incorporate human cells are novel platforms to model disease and screen drugs and provide an alternative to traditional animal studies. This review highlights the basic definitions of TCs and MPSs, examines four major organs/tissues, identifies critical parameters for organization and function (tissue organization, blood flow, and physical stresses), reviews current microfluidic approaches to recreate tissues, and discusses current shortcomings and future directions for the development and application of these technologies. The organs emphasized are those involved in the metabolism or excretion of drugs (hepatic and renal systems) and organs sensitive to drug toxicity (cardiovascular system). This article examines the microfluidic/microfabrication approaches for each organ individually and identifies specific examples of TCs. This review will provide an excellent starting point for understanding, designing, and constructing novel TCs for possible integration within MPS.

BCNNM: A Framework for in silico Neural Tissue Development Modeling

Cerebral (“brain”) organoids are high-fidelity in vitro cellular models of the developing brain, which makes them one of the go-to methods to study isolated processes of tissue organization and its electrophysiological properties, allowing to collect invaluable data for in silico modeling neurodevelopmental processes. Complex computer models of biological systems supplement in vivo and in vitro experimentation and allow researchers to look at things that no laboratory study has access to, due to either technological or ethical limitations. In this paper, we present the Biological Cellular Neural Network Modeling (BCNNM) framework designed for building dynamic spatial models of neural tissue organization and basic stimulus dynamics. The BCNNM uses a convenient predicate description of sequences of biochemical reactions and can be used to run complex models of multi-layer neural network formation from a single initial stem cell. It involves processes such as proliferation of precursor cells and their differentiation into mature cell types, cell migration, axon and dendritic tree formation, axon pathfinding and synaptogenesis. The experiment described in this article demonstrates a creation of an in silico cerebral organoid-like structure, constituted of up to 1 million cells, which differentiate and self-organize into an interconnected system with four layers, where the spatial arrangement of layers and cells are consistent with the values of analogous parameters obtained from research on living tissues. Our in silico organoid contains axons and millions of synapses within and between the layers, and it comprises neurons with high density of connections (more than 10). In sum, the BCNNM is an easy-to-use and powerful framework for simulations of neural tissue development that provides a convenient way to design a variety of tractable in silico experiments.

Recent Advancements in Engineering Strategies for Manipulating Neural Stem Cell Behavior

Purpose of Review

Stem cells are exquisitely sensitive to biophysical and biochemical cues within the native microenvironment. This review focuses on emerging strategies to manipulate neural cell behavior using these influences in three-dimensional (3D) culture systems.

Recent Findings

Traditional systems for neural cell differentiation typically produce heterogeneous populations with limited diversity rather than the complex, organized tissue structures observed in vivo. Advancements in developing engineering tools to direct neural cell fates can enable new applications in basic research, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine.

Summary

This review article highlights engineering strategies that facilitate controlled presentation of biophysical and biochemical cues to guide differentiation and impart desired phenotypes on neural cell populations. Specific highlighted examples include engineered biomaterials and microfluidic platforms for spatiotemporal control over the presentation of morphogen gradients.

Spatiotemporal Control of Morphogen Delivery to Pattern Stem Cell Differentiation in Three-Dimensional Hydrogels

Morphogens are biological molecules that alter cellular identity and behavior across both space and time. During embryonic development, morphogen spatial localization can be confined to small volumes in a single tissue or permeate throughout an entire organism, and the temporal effects of morphogens can range from fractions of a second to several days. In most cases, morphogens are presented as a gradient to adjacent cells within tissues to pattern cell fate. As such, to appropriately model development and build representative multicellular architectures in vitro, it is vital to recapitulate these gradients during stem cell differentiation. However, the ability to control morphogen presentation within in vitro systems remains challenging. Here, we describe an innovative platform using channels patterned within thick, three-dimensional hydrogels that deliver multiple morphogens to embedded cells, thereby demonstrating exquisite control over both spatial and temporal variations in morphogen presentation. This generalizable approach should have broad utility for researchers interested in patterning in vitro tissue structures. © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.